... As a result of their consumption, excretion, disposal and persistence, antibiotics enter the soil environment and may be transported to surface and ground waters. During their transfer through soils, retention processes play a key role in their mobility. Antibiotics often coexist with heavy metals in soils due to agricultural practices and other sources of inputs. In this context, this study deals ...

... The government of China launched its first national soil quality and pollution survey (NSQPS) during April 2006 to December 2013. Data gathered in several earlier soil surveys were rarely used to understand the status of pollution. In this study, the dataset collected at the provincial level was analyzed for the first time. Concentrations, distribution, diversity, and human health risks of trace e ...

... The concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn and their bioconcentration factors (BCFs) were determined in two intestinal parasites, an acanthocephalan, Acanthocephalus lucii, a tapeworm, Proteocephalus percae, present in the same host, the European perch (Perca fluviatilis, L.), in the heavily polluted Ružín reservoir in eastern Slovakia. The bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the ...

... Bioherbicides from plant extracts are an effective and environmentally friendly method to prevent weed growth. The present investigation was aimed at determining the inhibitory effect of bur cucumber seed extracts (BSE) on lettuce plant growth. Bur cucumber seeds were ground with water, and two different concentrations of seed extracts (10% and 20%) were prepared and applied to lettuce plants. Dec ...

... Zinc (Zn) is a widespread soil contaminant arising from a numerous anthropogenic sources. However, adequately predicting toxicity of Zn to ecological receptors remains difficult due to the complexity of soil characteristics. In this study, we examined solid–solution partitioning using pore-water data and toxicity of Zn to cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in spiked soils. Pore-water effective concentr ...

... Several previous studies highlighted the importance of using field-collected soils—and not artificially-contaminated soils—for ecotoxicity tests. However, the use of field-collected soils presents several difficulties for interpretation of results, due to the presence of various contaminants and unavoidable differences in the physicochemical properties of the tested soils. The objective of this st ...

... It has been argued that the identification of the phytotoxic metal thresholds in soil should be based on field-collected soil rather than on artificially-contaminated soils. However, the use of field-collected soils presents several difficulties for interpretation because of mixed contamination and unavoidable covariance of metal contamination with other soil properties that affect plant growth. T ...

... Increasing concentration of Cd in soil is of great concern due to risk of its entry into food chain. Zinc (Zn) being antagonist to Cd is an important micronutrient to ameliorate its toxic effects on plants and to limit its entry into food chain. A pot experiment was conducted using Cd contaminated soil (30mg Cdkg−1 soil as 3CdSO4·8H2O) to investigate the effect of soil and foliar applied Zn on phy ...

... Presence of heavy metals as well as different metal ions in treated wastewater is a problem for the environment as well as human health. This paper aims to investigate the possibility to combine an MBR (membrane biological reactor) with an adsorption process onto powdered eggshell and eggshell membrane in order to improve metal removal from wastewater. The first step of the experimental analysis c ...

... Recently noted that the methylene blue cause severe central nervous system toxicity. It is essential to optimize the methylene blue from aqueous environment. In this study, a comparison of an optimization of methylene blue was investigated by using modified Ca2+ and Zn2+ bio-polymer hydrogel beads. A batch mode study was conducted using various parameters like time, dye concentration, bio-polymer ...

... Active biomonitoring with terrestrial mosses can be used to complement traditional air pollution monitoring techniques. Several studies have been carried out to compare the uptake capacity of different types of moss transplants. However, until now the relationship between the uptake of elements in devitalized moss bags and in irrigated transplants has not been explored. In this study, the final co ...

... The purpose of this study was to determine the concentrations and health risk of heavy metals in urban soils from a steel industrial district in China. A total of 115 topsoil samples from Anshan city, Liaoning, Northeast China were collected and analyzed for Cr, Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, and Ni. The geoaccumulation index (Igeo), pollution index (PI), and potential ecological risk index (PER) were calculated ...

... Pollution of the aquatic environment by heavy metals is a great concern worldwide. Freshwater fish ingests various metals through gills, skin or diet. Our aim was to investigate the oxidative stress and histopathological injuries induced by Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd in the liver and kidney of Leuciscus cephalus. Fish samples were collected from two sites in the Tur River, NW Romania, in upstream and down ...

... Cement kiln dust (CKD), a byproduct of cement manufacturing process, was collected from Misr Cement Co. at Qena, Egypt. CKD was characterized by X-ray diffraction and FTIR analysis. This byproduct was investigated for its physical–chemical characters, antibacterial activities on sewage water and the presence of nematode, parasites and algae in the treated water. The efficiency of CKD-treated water ...

... Previous studies indicated that essential and xenobiotic metals differ substantially in terms of their toxicokinetics. Whether these differences are due to different assimilation rates, different elimination rates, or both, and whether all metals are regulated in a similar manner but with different efficiency remains unclear. To compare the mechanisms responsible for the regulation of different me ...

... The input of metals into freshwater ecosystems from natural and anthropogenic sources impairs water quality and can lead to biological alterations in organisms and plants, compromising the structure and the function of these ecosystems. Biochemical biomarkers may provide early detection of exposure to contaminants and indicate potential effects at higher levels of biological organisation. The effe ...